I would have given Wade the MVP, without him the Heat team was not much better than last years team and would not have gone to the playoff’s.
Both Cleveland and the Lakers could have made the playoffs without Labron or Bryant.

Wade 3rd??? The MVP award is not a certified joke. I will no longer recognize it as a legitimate award. Thus I will refrain from ever chanting it again at the AAA. When you put Wade 3rd, you are showing that whoever is responsible for voting are complete idiots.

Does it really matter who finishes 2nd? All that matters is who wins the award.
To Chet: The Lakers could make the playoffs without Bryant, as they still have a few All Star caliber players. But there is no way the Cavs get anything better than an 8th seed without LeBron (and I’m saying that as someone who thinks LeBron is WAAAY overrated).

I have to agree with you guys. This NBA MVP award has become a lame joke. I agree that Lebron deserved it but it was mainly due to his team’s success. Individually, Wade had a better season than both Lebron and Kobe but the Heat just did not win enough games. I don’t know how in the world Kobe finished 2nd. Yes, the Lakers finished atop the West during the regular season but he did not put the numbers that Dwyane and Lebron put up.

Wow, this Skolnick guy clearly has lost all credibility and anytime i see his name, i’ll just skip the article. Skolinick wrote:
“The only stat in which Bryant has a clear edge?
Turnovers.”
Funny because according to NBA.COM:
Turnovers per game
Wade-3.4
Kobe-2.6
Total Turnovers
Wade-272
Kobe-210.
Maybe Skolnick is a journalist(non-credible) because he is bad with numbers?

Wow, this Skolnick guy clearly has lost all credibility and anytime i see his name, i’ll just skip the article. Skolinick wrote:
“The only stat in which Bryant has a clear edge?
Turnovers.”
Funny because according to NBA.COM:
Turnovers per game
Wade-3.4
Kobe-2.6
Total Turnovers
Wade-272
Kobe-210.
Maybe Skolnick is a journalist(non-credible) because he is bad with numbers?
Posted by: Mike Jone
or maybe u just dont know how to read.

The standard for judging the MVP is the best player on best team. Get rid of the word “valuable” because it’s no longer the standard. Without this player, where would the team finish. That question defines “value”.

the MVP was appointed to Lebron before the season, & he showed that it was well deserved. But Wade should of definatley been 2nd instead of Kobe. The clear advantage that Kobe had over Wade was a waaaaaay better suporting cast, marketing & more nationally televised game. Take Kobe off the Lakers & they are still a decent team, take Wade off of the Heat & we aren’t even a decent D-League team. Unless you really watched most of the Heat games night in & night out you really didn’t get to see all of Wades consistent greatness.

I disagree to some degree(of course).
I do not see how one can clearly differentaite who is better now — LBJ – Kobe or Wade.
“But Bryant was with a team that didn’t require him to do nearly as much.”
Hence — his numbers were down – but why should that hurt his MVP claim?
Wade was hurt because he played with scrubs and Kobe was hurt because he played with some decent players.
I am not stating for certain that kobe should have finished ahead of wade — all i am saying is that who knows? — there is no certaintity.
(In my opinion – MVP should go to if you could have 1 guy – for that season to start with (not taking into account age/contract/future/etc. – who would it be —- for me — about the past 3-4 seasons it would be Kobe — this esason I would have LBJ second and Wade third)
(side note — as much as i ‘love’ wade and as others think LBJ is getting too much praise at this point — LBJ has to be given credit for a so-so team getting to 65 wins)
As others have posted — MVP in basketball seems to mean best player on best team or near the top.
In November ‘we’ knew if Cavs were going to wing 55+ games — LBJ was going to be MVP.
To me – in recent NBA history — I do not know how MVP has any credibility when in Jordan’s prime – (coming off championship seasons) – the writers decided to give the MVP to Barkley and Malone. Plus – Nash has 2 MVP’s but Shaq will end career with 1.

I think gaging sole statistics is a poor measure. Wade has done a better job in the past making the players around him perform at a higher level than they would have otherwise. This season was Wade or nothing, and as a fan I wouldn’t care to watch another one like it.

“Hence — his numbers were down – but why should that hurt his MVP claim?”
But it’s not just his points. His assists, steals, blocks — none of that should be affected by greater selflessness. Wade’s numbers are more well-rounded, even when you take his scoring burden out of it.
Look, all three guys were close. I was just surprised to see Kobe beat out Wade.

I am a huge Wade fan and a big time Kobe hater, but I see no injustice here.
Kobe’s team won 65 games and finished in 1st place in the West. Wade’s team won 43 games and stumbled into 5th place in the East.
I’m sorry, but team success matters. Wade will have a shot at future MVP contests when his team is competitive.

this is clearly crap, the only reason Lebron is 1st and Kobe 2nd for MVP is to hype the NBA finals. how is it that you lead the NBA in scoring take a no talent team to the playoffs and you end up 3rd for MVP.
WADE is the league MVP.

BC, my reply to you is role reversal. What about those years when Kobe had no one and one year couldn’t make the playoffs, then the next couple years struggled to get out of the first round…That was the year Wade went to the ECF (and the Heat had the best record in the East), and the following year won the championship. Did Wade even get first team All-NBA? No, he gave way to Kobe because Kobe was scoring a ridiculous 35 PPG. Now yes Kobe didn’t win MVP, but the mere fact he still got the All-NBA first team award over Wade, tells you it’s politics, not who has the better record, not who has the better stats. Because in both cases, Wade lost to Kobe.

Also look at the stats wade put up against kobe and lebron and is stats is better then both of them. When people ask me if u can have anybody 2 shoot the game winning shot in the final seconds and i choose wade and people forget wade won his championship before lebron.

Flash gets numbers, but Kobe wins games.
Just a couple of years ago, Kobe took the team with the best record, Suns, and took them to seven games.
That is with Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton as starters. They started because they were the most talented players on the roster!
Kobe got no consideration for MVP while scoring 35 pts/game.
Wade can’t compare. I think the few voters that voted for Kobe really understand what he can do as far as putting up numbers. Winning is more important.

D-Wade aka Flash hands down is the most talented player in the NBA today, when we talk stats. Dwade leads Lebron and Kobe in all of teh major stats with 30.2 pts per game, Lebron with 28.4 and Kobe with 26.8 pts per game. Steals, Dwade(2.19) Kobe (1.46) Lebron (1.69) STP. Blocks per game, Dwade (1.34) Lebron(1.15) Kobe (.45…Assist per game Dwade (7.5) Kobe (4.9) Lebron (7.2)…Do we notice a trend.. Dwade is statically the best player in the NBA today. What separates Dwade from Kobe and Lebron is clear Cleveland is the best team in the East while La is the best team in the West. But the MVP award is not a team accolade, it should be presented to the best overall player for the season .D wade should have one MVP and it is unfortunate that he is surrounded by scrubs.

I i’m also a big wade fan; so you know i think he should be the MVP. I would have had it WADE, lebron, kobe. Plus i think wade is the BEST all round player than all of them. Wade blocks and steals better both of them and he is the shortest one at 6′4. Plus he had the best individual season. Think about this what if wade was 6′8 (lebron height)had a more musclelar body type. He would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than lebron and kobe. Lebron is also a little overatted. D-WADE ALL DAY LIKE JORDAN BACK IN THE DAY!!!!

In my oppinion, Wade forgot to take over the Atlanta series “Wade-style”. Had he reproduced his ‘06 Finals performance in this year’s 1st round, he would have been closer to James than to Bryant.
(If you base it solely on the regular season – as it is supposed to be – Wade’s was more of a stand-out season than Bryant’s. But don’t tell me journalists don’t consider the beginning of the playoffs.)

I totally agree that Dwyane not only should have came in 2nd, but he should have been the MVP. LeBron and Kobe’s team could most definetly survive w/o them. The Heat, however, couldn’t survive w/o their MVP DWade. Yall need to get it right next time around!

LBJ has been hyped since he entered the league, the media, and nike makes sure of that, people are mad Wade finished 3rd in the MVP voting the guy not only should of been the league’s MVP but also the Defensive Player of the Year how does he finish 3rd in that one, this is sicking to watch greatness from WADE everytime he steps on the floor, man LBJ and Kobe went off on the Knicks,and the Bucks, but Wade went off on the Utah Jazz,even their players acknowledge you don’t do that to the Jazz the NBA should be ashamed of itself, Jesus if the guy didn’t play in the Olypics we would have back home ashamed that the world beat us again, the guy performs on the biggest stage, ask Spain and the Mavericks, how do you put a team on your shoulder and lift them over the hump, the guy is clutch, Kobe had Shaq but he couldn’t be the leading man, Wade had Shaq and single handely beat the Mavs, team U.S.A starts Kobe and Lebron in the Olypics but they needed the flash to put Spain away, the media and the NBA please give WADE his just due

Lebron deserved the award, as much as I hate to say it. But the award is just a byproduct of team success. Imagine this scenario: Wade and Lebron had the same regular season record. Who wins the award? Wade..

At the end of the day, history doesn’t care who finished 2nd or 3rd or 9th in MVP voting. LeBron was the MVP this season and that’s all that will be remembered.
Let’s hope Wade takes it next year.

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About the author

MIKE BERARDINO is still living the dream he first hatched as a young boy growing up in South Florida in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He’s writing about sports for a living. Best of all, he’s doing it in a now-crowded South Florida sports landscape teeming with talent, passion and, yes, sometimes even controversy. As the newest sports columnist at the Sun Sentinel, where he’s worked since February 1998, most recently as a Dolphins beat writer, Mike will draw on his many experiences over the years covering virtually every major sport and event. You name it, he’s been on the scene: World Series, Summer and Winter Olympics, Super Bowls, NBA Finals, NCAA Final Fours, BCS Championships, Wimbledon, the Masters, NASCAR Sprint Cup and on and on. Talk about living the dream. And now, with this new role and a daily blog forum for his many ideas and opinions, it just keeps getting better.